


The Next Phase

by orphan_account



Category: Faking It (TV 2014)
Genre: College, F/F, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-03-02 03:59:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2798750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amy’s heart ached at the words. She missed all her friends and family, but she missed Karma the most. How was she going to survive with her all the way in another state?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Next Phase

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Care](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Care/gifts).



Amy was pulled into tight hug that temporarily knocked the wind out of her. She put her hands on her mother’s shoulders and tried to pry herself out of the embrace, but it was futile; Farrah was freakishly strong.

“Mom, I can’t breathe. You’re going to murder me on my first day of college.”

She broke the hug and smiled with tears in her eyes. “I’ll see you Thanksgiving break, right?”

“Yes, mom.” Amy grunted when she was hugged tightly for a second time. “No more death hugs, please!”

Her lungs struggled to return to normal breathing but did so once her mother had pulled away and reached for one of the bags in the back of the trunk.

The dorm Amy had chosen was Brackenridge Residence Hall. She’d made the choice in a dark room, snuggled underneath the covers with Karma. Amy had finally worked through and accepted her unrequited feelings for Karma, which left them only their friendship to focus on-- until graduation, at least.

It had been a surprise to get accepted to the University of Texas, but Amy wanted to go. The plan had been for Karma and Amy to go to college together, but Karma had been accepted at a school a state away. A good plan was turning out to be nothing more than a fleeting idea.

They made plans to text, Skype, and talk at least once a day, though. It would almost be like Karma and Amy weren’t miles apart.

“That’s the last bag, mom.”

Farrah hugged her again. “Call me if you need me, Amy. Understand?”

“Yes, mom.”

Amy sat on her bed, looking around the small dorm room, which her roommate had yet to occupy. It was so… unlived-in, but Amy had the perfect remedy for that. Instead of unpacking, Amy spent the next hour putting up pictures. A good majority of them were of Karma and her together, but some were of Shane and even of Lauren.

In one of the pictures, Lauren was flipping the camera off.

Amy’s phone buzzed at approximately 9:00 that night. She dove for it and earned a look from her new roommate, who had turned out to be the stereotypical off-putting roommate one would expect for freshman year.

**Karma:**   
_Hi! How is your room? Roommate? Did your mom give you a death hug? Tell me everything._

Amy stifled a laugh and began texting immediately.

**You:**   
_Room is as expected and so is roommate. Also, mom did try to kill me, but, luckily, I survived. You?_

**Karma:**   
_Roommate is pretty cool. My parents love her, but my parents love everyone._

**You:**   
_My mom hates everyone._

**Karma:**   
_I miss you. Call me tomorrow morning?_

Amy’s heart ached at the words. She missed all her friends and family, but she missed Karma the most. How was she going to survive with her all the way in another state?

**You:**   
_Whoever wakes up first has to call the other._

**Karma:**   
_Deal._

**You:**   
_Karma?_

**Karma:**   
_Yes?_

**You:**   
_I miss you too._

~*~

In the first few days, Amy found it hard to throw herself into her classes. Their difficulty level wasn’t the problem; rather, she just missed everyone an impossible amount. Still, eventually, she did throw herself into her classes full force because while it was difficult to move past the loneliness, her classes provided a distraction.

A conversation with Shane pushed Amy to look for some LGBT friendly organizations to join. Shane texted her two minutes after their talk with the name Queer Students Alliance thanks to a quick and efficient Google search.

Amy hadn’t joined one in their last school-- though what was the need? The entire school was supportive, and by the time Amy had come to full acceptance, she was close to graduating anyway.

After a grueling history class, Amy stopped by the building. She fidgeted and kept glancing at her phone. The wallpaper was a picture of her and Karma at graduation with Shane and Lauren arguing in the background.

It was during her longing looks at her phone that someone stepped out from the room. Amy didn't quite notice them for at least a full minute.

"This the sixth time you've circled back here today. Can I help you?"

Amy glanced at the petite Asian woman standing in front her. She had purple colored streaks through her hair. The first thought Amy had was that she was cute, but she wasn’t here to find a girlfriend or anything like that.

"My friend was like, ‘You need to make some new friends and stop pining for the old ones. Go join a club or something,’ so here I am," Amy babbled. Her nervousness had to be painfully obvious. "I'm a lesbian, by the way."

She wanted to smack herself. Why did she say that out loud? It wasn't as if Amy had to prove her sexuality or something.

"I mean it's not like I advertise or anything, but this is a LGBT club, so I figured I'd let you know-"

The woman laughed and held out her hand. "Three things. One: take a breath, Two: everyone, including straight allies, is welcome, and three: I'm Mila. You are?"

"Amy."

"Well, Amy, if you wait a minute, I'll grab you a little pamphlet that has some information and a list of all our meetings and upcoming events."

“Uh, okay. Thanks!”

She left without making any friends, but she clutched the pamphlet tightly in her hand. Going to these meetings would give her something to do, as well as a chance to befriend someone new or maybe even find a romantic partner.

After her breakup with Reagan, Amy hadn’t gone on many dates. It wasn’t that she’d never met another interesting girl; she’d just taken so long to get over Karma. That crush had been there even when she’d dated Reagan, and it had contributed to their breakup.

Now, Amy felt like she was finally ready to move on. The only problem was finding someone to hang out with.

Joining the Queer Students Alliance would at least be somewhere to start.

~*~

Amy had thought she wouldn’t want to do Halloween this year because all her memories of it involved Karma and their matching costumes, but the universe, Mila specifically, proved her wrong. The loneliness had lessened, but Amy had plans to go to a party titled “Queer Halloween Bash,” which was sponsored by Mila herself. Also sponsored by the Queer Students Alliance, the party was held off-campus and rumored to be one of the better Halloween events.

“Who are you supposed to be going as again, Mila?”

“Lara Croft from the reboot. Isn’t it obvious?” she sighed.

Amy shifted in the passenger seat of Mila’s car and couldn’t resist letting out a giggle at her response. “It really isn’t.”

“Well, who are you supposed to be?” Mila’s eyes swept over Amy’s costume, which included bright yellow overall shorts and a yellow plaid shirt. A giant lollipop with a psychedelic swirl completed the outfit “A member of the Lollipop Guild?” Mila asked.

“Yeah, I am, actually.” Amy gaped at Mila. She and Karma had seen the movie over a hundred times each, but Mila didn’t have to know that. “How did you know that?” Amy added.

“I know my pop culture, Amy.”

Amy was a bit awed by Mila’s sharp guess, but that awe faded by the time they arrived at the venue. She walked inside with Mila and immediately spotted Joan dressed as Holmes and Miguel as Watson.

“Amy, you came!” Joan shouted, waving frantically in their direction. She bounced over to them but stopped mid-step. “Who are you supposed to be? A member of the Lollipop Guild?”

“How does everyone keep guessing?” Amy muttered.

Mila nudged her. “Before we start talking about how us queers are excellent with pop culture, I want to introduce you to your partner for the Queer-Books-Donate-a-Thon we’re having at the library next week.”

It had mostly been Mila who was on Amy to sign up for one of the future activities. The Queer-Donate-a-Thon involved donating LGBT themed books to the college library, and Amy would be in charge of cataloging all the books they received. 

“Who is my partner?” Amy asked.

Mila pointed to a woman shorter than her with bright pink hair. At first, Amy couldn’t tell if she was wearing a wig or not, but once Amy got close enough, she saw that the hair was the real deal.

“Poppy, this is Amy. Amy, this is Poppy. You girls have fun. I’m going to mingle.” Mila disappeared into the party.

“Are you a fairy?” Amy asked after a quick glance at the fairyesque costume, complete with bright, sparkly wings sticking out from Poppy’s back. 

“In a manner of speaking.” Poppy laughed, but then she winced. “Damn, that was a stupid joke. Can we start again? I’m Poppy, and tonight I’m a generic fairy. You’re supposed to be a... lollipop farmer?”

Amy barely managed to contain her joy at someone not knowing her costume. “I’m a member of the Lollipop Guild. It probably would’ve worked better if I’d done a group costume.”

“Probably, but it’s still clever. I got mine from a store at the last minute,” Poppy laughed again. “I figured my hair would help with the fairy look.”

“Have you been going here long? I don’t remember seeing you at any QSA meetings.” It went unsaid that Amy would have noticed bright pink hair.

Poppy gestured towards her hair. “I know what you’re thinking: if I were on campus, you would’ve noticed me. I mostly take online classes, but my one on-campus class starts soon. so I figured why not join some organization and get away from my mom? The QSA won out.”

“You like to avoid your mom? Me too, I just love avoiding my mother,” Amy said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.

“We are going to get along great,” Poppy said.

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“No, I really do think we’ll get along.” Poppy laughed yet again. “Sometimes I sound sarcastic when I don’t even want to. Do I have a bad case of bitch face? You can tell me.”

Amy smiled awkwardly. “I don’t know if I should answer that. Isn’t it polite not to criticize someone’s face when you first meet them, or ever?”

“Mila mentioned it, but she’s Mila, so that wasn’t a surprise. I don’t think she knows what ‘think before you speak’ even is.”

The words brought back memories of Lauren. Amy treasured some of them but didn’t miss her step-sister entirely. “Sounds like my step-sister Lauren. She wouldn’t hesitate to verbally rip you a new one,” Amy said.

Poppy snorted, then began digging through her bag. She pulled out her phone and nodded towards Amy. “Do you want to give me your number? We can plan for the Queer-Books-Donate-a-Thon over text and talk about how much we hate our mothers?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Hey, can I confess something?” Poppy asked.

Amy nodded. “As long as you aren’t trying to confess to being a robot, Republican, undercover cop, or robotic undercover cop who votes Republican, then yeah.”

“I don’t think the Republican party would be too friendly to sentient robots.”

“But don’t they love drones?”

“I don’t think it’s the same, but, anyway, I’ve noticed Mila likes using the word ‘queer’ for events way too much. It’s a little redundant, but we haven’t known each other long, so I haven’t mentioned anything,” Poppy admitted, her voice dropping to a near-whisper.

The rest of the party was spent talking with Poppy, getting random guesses on her costume, and getting annoyed when everyone managed to figure it out. Poppy was pretty much the only one who ended up getting it wrong.

“Text you tomorrow, Amy.”

“Bye,”

Amy caught Mila giving her a look and then a half smile. Mila didn’t smile much, so it was a lot for her. She was… more of the stoic type.

“I’m glad the two of you hit it off. Did you bond over how weird I am?” Mila asked.

At times like that, Amy almost felt like Mila had some kind of psychic power. Amy didn’t know whether to answer her question truthfully or lie. Would Mila know it was a lie? Probably.

Mila grinned. “I figured. You don’t have to worry; I like it when ranting about me brings people together.”

Amy didn’t think she had ever met someone as odd as Mila-- well, except for Karma’s parents.

~*~

**Karma:**  
 _How was the party?_

**You:**   
_Everyone guessed my costume except for Poppy._

**Karma:**   
_Who’s Poppy? ;)_

**You:**   
_Another member of the QSA, Karma, so stop your mind from going there, you perv! We’re working on the Queer-Books-Donate-a-Thon together._

**Karma:**   
_Libraries always bring people together. :)_

**You:**   
_I have to get to class, so text you later, Karma._

Amy put her phone back in her pocket and slipped into class. It seemed absurd that one day she would be looking forward to class and willingly ending a conversation with Karma. The adjustment still wasn’t easy, but Amy found it became a little easier every day.

Her new friends did help.

During class, her phone buzzed a total of three times, but Amy resisted the urge to look until class was officially over. 

**Poppy:**   
_How are you doing, project partner? Do you think you have time for coffee?_

**You:**   
_I have time, and I can never turn down Starbucks._

**Poppy:**   
_Starbucks? I hate Starbucks._

**You:**   
_Are you serious?_

**Poppy:**   
_Of course! ;D_

Amy laughed and headed to the Starbucks nearest campus. It was only a ten minute walk, and by the time she made it through the door, Poppy had already arrived. Her pink hair was pulled into a messy bun that made her look like she had just rolled out of bed. It didn’t stop her from being cute, though.

“I see you beat me here,” Amy said.

“Coffee is important when you haven’t been up long,” Poppy said. “I have no classes today, so I decided to sleep in.”

Amy sat down. “And talk to me?”

“Well, we should plan for the Queer-Books-Donate-a-Thon, right?” Poppy took a sip of her coffee.

“Everything’s already provided for us. All we have to do is show up.”

Poppy groaned in relief. “Oh, thank god. Can you tell I’m not thrilled about this? Mila was the one who nagged me to do it in the first place.”

“Same,” Amy said. “She’s very persuasive.”

They parted after an an hour with a promise to meet up soon. By the day of the Queer-Books-Donate-a-Thon, Amy had hung out with Poppy a total of five times. The donate-a-thon marked the sixth time.

“You’re late,” Poppy said the second she spotted Amy. She jumped to her feet and pointed to her with narrowed eyes. The look faded within seconds, though; Poppy was terrible at feigning anger. “I’m kidding. You’re actually fifteen minutes early.”

Amy smiled nervously. “I set my alarm like fifteen minutes ahead so I wouldn’t oversleep. It wouldn’t do good to piss off Mila and the entire QSA.”

“Let’s make this thing a success.” Poppy winked at Amy.

It started with one person wandering in and donating two books. Three more followed not longer after that. As the hours ticked by, more people trickled in. The fundraiser wasn’t a gigantic success, but it did well enough. 

“Books are collected and categorized, so now we celebrate?” Amy said.

“A makeout session? I just love celebratory makeout sessions with friends or potential dates. Don’t you?”

That came out of nowhere, but Amy thought Poppy was adorable. It would be a lie if Amy said she wasn’t crushing on her.

“What’s your natural hair color?” Amy asked while trying to force a serious expression onto her face.

Poppy looked like that was the last thing she’d expected to hear, but she obliged Amy anyway. “Blonde, why?”

“If I’m going to consider a celebratory makeout session with a girl, then I want to know her natural hair color.”

“You should know that information if you’re dating someone.”

“Exactly.” While Amy had grown more confident over the years, there were still giant butterflies in her stomach when she spoke.

“Wait, are you saying you do want to date me?” Poppy asked.

She laughed and pulled Poppy in for a kiss. It lasted only a few seconds; kissing in the library wasn’t the greatest idea. The library was for learning, not making out, right?

“So yes or no to celebratory make out session?” Poppy had a faint blush on her cheeks.

“Yes or no to a date?” Amy said.

Poppy’s blush deepened. “I thought of that day we got coffee as our first date. Was I jumping ahead of myself? Seriously, tell me if I am because I really like you and don’t want to scare you off.”

“You are not going to scare me off. Have I gone running yet?”

She gave Amy a shaky smile. “Not yet, though it’s not like it hasn’t happened before. I’ve scared girls off by coming on too strong.

“I’m still here,” Amy said. She drew Poppy into another kiss. It lasted longer than the previous one. “Do you believe me now?”

“I think I might need another kiss to decide that.”

Amy was happy to oblige-- once they’d gotten back to her dorm room, of course. The two of them kissed the second they entered the room. They fell backwards onto the bed, Poppy landing on top of Amy.

“When is your roommate due back?” Poppy asked in between kisses. “I mean, I don’t mind your roommate or anything, but I’d like not to be interrupted.”

“Trust me, I get it.” Amy murmured before kissing her deeply.

Poppy let out a soft sigh of contentment. “Amy, you never answered my question.”

“She’s usually at her boyfriend’s place.”

“Awesome.”

After that revelation, they went straight back to kissing.

~*~

“No, mom, she isn’t coming home with me for Thanksgiving; we just started dating. Poppy has her own family to visit, too. Maybe she’ll come next holiday, mom.”

Amy didn’t want to add “if they were still together” because that was better left unsaid. They had only been dating for a few weeks – technically only a little over seven days because Amy hadn’t known they were dating for those two weeks – and it was too soon to meet each other’s parents.

“Well, I want to meet this girl eventually, Amy. Can I at least see a picture?”

“Of course, mom. I’ll text you one while you’re on the drive up here.”

The pink hair was going to bother her mother while Karma had already said it was badass and awesome. She valued Karma’s opinion more than her mother’s anyway.

Her mother was still going to try to sneak a peek at Poppy, so when she arrived an hour early, Amy was relieved her girlfriend had left already. “Mom, I thought you were picking me up at one?” Amy muttered before climbing into the car.

Amy suddenly realized her decision to attend a university close to home had its downsides. Her mom would so take random visits to her dorm now. She had given Amy space in the beginning, deeming it better to stay away so Amy could adjust to college life, but a new girlfriend would change that.

“Is Poppy around? I would love to meet this girl, though I have to ask, Amy: has she considered changing her hair to something more… subdued?”

Amy almost wanted to laugh for being right on both counts. God, her mother was predictable. It was like she didn’t even try anymore. “Mom, she’s gone home for the break.”

The drive was relatively quiet with her mom giving brief explanations of what she, Amy’s stepfather, and Lauren had been up to. It was nothing Amy hadn’t already known. She wished she could skip staying home until dinner, but either none of her friends were back or they were out; the one she most wanted to see, though, was Karma.

Earlier that week, Karma had told Amy she wasn’t coming back for the break, instead choosing to use the free time to study and catch up on other things she needed to do. Karma’s parents hadn’t expected her back for Thanksgiving break anyway because, to them, Thanksgiving was nothing more than yet another commercialized holiday celebrating outdated values. They celebrated the Winter Solstice, which didn’t yet have Hallmark cards as far as Amy knew, rather than Christmas.

Dinner came slowly and it was an awkward affair with everyone’s attention on Amy. She knew she was in for a grilling.

Her mom smiled sweetly “So, Amy, tell us more about Poppy.”

“I’m sure Bruce and Lauren don’t want to be bored to death with details of my girlfriend.”

Bruce nodded, an uncomfortable expression on his face. He hadn’t fully accepted her sexuality, but he did try. “Amy’s right, Farrah. It’s none of our business anyway.”

“But I want to hear about her,” Lauren said, butting into the conversation.

Amy knew there was no way to get out of it now.

“She’s a history major with a minor in teaching.”

Her mom made a face. “Well you need to let your friend-”

“-girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend.”

“You need to let your girlfriend know that the pink hair has to go if she’s going to get a teaching job,” Amy’s mom sighed.

Amy wanted to pinch herself on the off-chance this was a dream, but she knew it was real. “Mom, why are you so hung up on her hair?”

“Unnatural hair is a major sign that someone’s a delinquent,” Bruce said.

“Why don’t we talk about Lauren’s new boyfriend?” Amy hoped that question would deflect attention away from her.

Lauren shot her a look as the conversation shifted to her instead. It was a cheap shot, but Amy was sick of everyone picking on her. The relief was short lived, though, because Lauren confronted her as she was washing dishes.

“You didn’t have to rat me out like that,” Lauren hissed.

“Are you kidding me?” Amy muttered. “You jumped on Bruce and my mother’s bandwagon. It was revenge-- fair and square.”

“There is nothing fair about revenge.”

Amy shrugged but eventually apologized. 

The apology seemed to placate Lauren, well, as much as she was ever placated. 

“So how is school, math nerd?” Lauren asked.

“Finally, a question that’s not about my love life,” Amy laughed. “It’s going well. What about you. theatre geek?”

Lauren gave her a genuine smile, which wasn’t all that common for her. “Same, though in the end, I’ll be making more money. Remember, I’m going to be an actress.”

Amy went to bed early that night, pleased about her conversation with Lauren but also annoyed at the barrage of questions about Poppy. She climbed into bed, eager to get to sleep, but then she received two simultaneous text messages; one from Karma and one from Poppy.

Balancing her best friend and new girlfriend? Unlike in high school, she knew she could handle that. The thing Amy that truly worried Amy? Her upcoming math exam.

It was going to be a killer.


End file.
